I Drove All Night
by Dinny93
Summary: Oneshot songfic based on Cyndi Lauper's "I Drove All Night". Alex misses Gene and is in a hurry to get back to him. Very Galex! Some smut. AU, pretty much ignores the events of series 2. First A2A fic.


**A/N:- This is based on Cyndi Lauper's song "I Drove All Night" and I originally started it for XTimeGirlX's iPod shuffle competition, only to find out it had closed the day before. I wasn't going to continue, but then I let my best friend read it and she convinced me to finish it up and publish it on here, so massive thanks to Jessi for being so awesome! :D Please bear in mind it's my first attempt at writing anything for Ashes To Ashes or M-rated. :S**

**Hope you enjoy and all comments are appreciated! :)**

**Disclaimer:- I do not own Ashes To Ashes, Life On Mars or anything associated. If I did, Gene & Alex would be a couple and series 3 would ALREADY HAVE STARTED!!!**

* * *

Alex hated board meetings. Especially ones, she mused, she shouldn't even be at, as this particular board meeting was in Edinburgh. The Super had decreed she be sent there, indefinitely, to help with the recent outbreak of IRA bombings and what-not, though both she and Gene knew it was just an excuse for the higher-ups to separate their team, something they had been trying to achieve for a very long time now.

Unfortunately, it was something they had gotten a lot closer to achieving. Alex had been given no choice about the temporary transfer to Edinburgh, and it was fairly obvious that it was just the first step in transferring her away from CID permanently, where she would be confined to some shitty office. No more catching criminals first hand. Meanwhile, Gene would either be promoted or pensioned off... either way, they'd both be off the streets before long with the way things were going.

Alex sighed deeply and stared past the other faces surrounding the long table, out of the grimy window. Nothing that had been said so far had registered with her, and the open page of the notebook infront of her was conspicuously blank, except for the elaborate doodle in the upper left corner of hers and Gene's entwined names.

Gene.

God, she missed him, and she'd barely been gone a week. Things had definitely changed between them since she first arrived in the eighties, almost two years ago now. While initially, she'd been unable to stand him, they were now all but inseparable, the Power Couple of CID... Though she strongly doubted that anyone actually _knew_ for sure that she and Gene were "shagging", to use his term. Some, like Shaz and Ray, may suspect it, but unless they had started tracking hers and Gene's movements and spying on them, then it was unlikely they had proof.

Her thoughts trailed off sluggishly and her eyelids drooped, before she jerked upright again to the disapproving glares of the men on either side of her.

* * *

_I had to escape,_

_The city was sticky and cruel.

* * *

_

God almighty though, she hated this room. Alex shifted uncomfortably in her hard plastic chair, and tried, unsuccessfully, to refocus on what was being said. It was so stuffy and felt like they never switched the heating off. The mustard colour of the walls didn't help much either. She had to get out, had to escape the sticky heat of the room and the cruelty that seemed unavoidable in 1980s Edinburgh.

She wanted Gene. No matter how hard she tried to stay on task, her thoughts kept returning to him. More specifically, to that last amazing night they'd spent together before she'd had to leave the next morning for the train station. The feel of his mouth on hers as he'd kissed her good-bye on the platform, the low growl of his voice as he'd told her to hurry home so he didn't have to go without looking at her arse for too long, the memory of everything that was so distinctly Gene filled her mind and enveloped her senses and for a few short moments she was lost to the world.

"DI Drake! Are you with us?!" A harsh voice pulled her from her fantasies and Alex's eyes snapped open. They were met by a steely grey gaze as harsh as the voice that went with them. DCI Stanley Craig was one of the higher ranking officers working on the bombings and one of the more respected ones.

He was also, however, a strong misogynist and was against women having any job other than that of the house wife. He had put up the most fight against Alex joining the investigation and since her arrival, had made it quite clear that he didn't see how they would benefit from her input in the slightest. Alex was sick of his contemptuous glances and constant inferences that they would be better off if they put her to work in the kitchen. She glared right back at him.

"Now that you have honoured us with your attention, DI Drake, what is your opinion on the matter?" Alex clenched her teeth, the bastard knew full well she had no idea what she was meant to be giving an opinion on and just wanted to hear her say it so he could humiliate her further. She took a deep breath before replying.

"I'm sorry sir, but could you repeat yourself please," Alex fought to keep her voice moderately polite "The heat of the room is making it difficult for me to concentrate." Craig's lip twitched upwards slightly, before he turned to address the other men in the rooms.

"You see what I mean now gentlemen, when I say a woman cannot do a man's job? DI Drake is _supposedly _one of the MET's finest, yet she cannot stay focused in a meeting that could have lives at stake. Why she was foisted on us I will never know, as she is certainly not the boon she was said to be. Infact, other than being pleasing to look at," he broke off for a moment to leer at her, and Alex felt like punching him, "I'm not even sure DI Drake has any qualities that would make her of use in this investigation!" Alex had had enough.

"Well _sir_, if that's how you feel, then I'd best be off, hadn't I?" She stood up abruptly and began to gather her things, deaf to the protestations that had begun around the room against her departure. "I mean, since you so _obviously_ don't need me here and as I'm such a hindrance to your investigation, then I see no point in hanging around with a group of arrogant, pig-headed old men who are convinced they cannot be wrong, in a city I do not even like!" Alex's voice was becoming quickly louder as she got into the flow of her rant, all the annoyance and anger of the last few days coming out.

"It's not even like I wanted to be here in the first place, when I have a team back in London that actually bloody well respects me, believe it or not!" She exhaled and glared about the room, locking eyes with each of the men sat around the table. Some of them even had the good grace to look sheepish. "So good-bye boys, and good luck with the investigation," Alex picked up her bag and marched to the door, before turning back and looking directly at Craig, "By the way, DCI Craig, it's been a pleasure. I hope you burn in hell after having your testicles skewered by those Women's Rights groups you so obviously adore." She flashed the room one final, winning smile then walked out, not stopping until she had left the building.

It was only when she had reached her car that Alex allowed herself to breathe normally again. She got in and started to drive. She was going back London, back to Gene.

* * *

_Maybe I should have called you first,_

_but I was dying to get to you.

* * *

_

Firstly however, Alex returned to her hotel and packed as quickly as she was able. She was dying to return to Gene, and didn't want to have to wait a second longer than necessary to do so. A small part of her brain registered that it had already gone seven o'clock, and that if she was really going to drive back to London that evening, then she would in all likelihood be driving all night. Alex didn't let that thought bother her though and quickly brushed it aside. It would be worth it, she reasoned.

Back in the car, Alex drove as rapidly as she could through the streets of Edinburgh, in a way that would have undoubtedly made Gene proud. Maybe I have been spending a little _too_ much time with him, Alex thought to herself with a smile. Thinking back to earlier that day and how she had yelled at Stanley Craig confirmed that for her. Before she'd met Gene, she'd never have caused such a scene. She giggled to herself, strangely unperturbed by the idea of some of Gene's mannerisms rubbing off on her.

It was only as she got onto the motorway that Alex realised perhaps she should have called Gene before she left and told him she was coming home. No doubt he'd have been thrilled (though he would have done his best to hide it, for fear of looking like a "soft bastard") and might even have organised some sort of welcome back meal for her. Ah well. At least this way it would be a surprise and she could have the satisfaction of knowing she'd successfully surprised the Manc Lion.

* * *

_I was dreaming while I drove_

_The long straight road ahead, uh, huh

* * *

_

As the hours wore on and the light faded, the motorway soon became almost completely empty, save for her and a few lorries. Alex relished in being able to put her foot down, watching as the speedometer inched higher and higher and the road seemed to fall away beneath her. Gene would love this, she thought to herself with a grin. Being able to drive like a lunatic with nothing to get in the way was exactly his cup of tea. She'd have to mention to him that the motorway after midnight was the perfect place to practice his Demon-Driver impression...

With a jolt, Alex realised that she hadn't stopped thinking about Gene since she'd left. Infact, rarely a moment passed when he didn't occupy her mind in some way or another. She also realised that this fact didn't bother her in the slightest. Alex yawned and checked her watch. Not long now, less than an hour then she'd be home. Home. When had she come to consider her flat above Luigi's home, rather than just a place to stay during her stint in the eighties? She yawned again and dismissed those thoughts, pushed them aside to be pondered over on another occasion. Right then, all that mattered to Alex was getting back to Gene as soon as possible.

* * *

_Could taste your sweet kisses_

_Your arms open wide_

_This fever for you is just burning me up inside

* * *

_

As she drove, Alex thought about the possible welcome she would receive on her arrival. Five days, in her book at least, was definitely too long to go without shagging her boss senseless and if she knew Gene Hunt at all, then it had probably felt like double that to him. He was one of the least patient people she had ever met, which could be absolutely infuriating on occasions, but his disinclination to wait for any long period of time served him well as a copper.

Most likely, he'd have spent the evening drinking at Luigi's, alone at their table in the corner. She suspected he would then have gone up to her flat, where he now spent most nights anyway, but only after Ray, Chris, Shaz and the rest of the team had left the restaurant. He'd later say it was simply for convenience' sake that he'd stayed there, that he'd gotten used to the extra sleep allowed by just being across the road from the office, that he could be there sooner should anything happen during the night. He would never admit it was because he missed her that he stayed in her flat when she was gone and Alex didn't expect him to. Honestly, she'd be disappointed if he _did _say something, because that would mean he was changing from the gruff, arrogant, infuriating man who "didn't do" feelings as they made him feel vulnerable and who she loved with all her heart, to something different. And Alex didn't want different, she wanted the Gene Genie just as he was, flaws and all.

Thinking about him like that, Alex could almost taste his kisses, sweet yet possessive, could feel them blazing a trail down her skin as he moved down her body, nipping and biting at her as he went. His arms would open wide for her and she would go to him without hesitation. There would be no need for words, for speech of any kind. It would just be him and her, together, their bodies perfectly intertwined, as though they had been made for each other. Unbreakable.

Alex let out a low moan and gripped the steering wheel tightly. She could feel heat pooling between her thighs and spreading through her like a fever. It felt like she was on fire, burning, and only Gene, her Manc Lion, could do anything about it. Unthinkingly, she pressed down, hard, on the accelerator.

* * *

_I drove all night to get to you_

_Is that alright?

* * *

_

By the time Alex had reached London, the first wisps of dawn were breaking over the horizon, but despite having been driving all night, she was fully alert. She sped through the near empty streets, so familiar to her, yet now bathed in the golden glow of the slowly rising sun, so different and so strangely beautiful. It was a sight that would no longer exist in the London of the future, Alex thought sadly. Twenty-five years in the future, light pollution and the various fumes in the atmosphere would have done away with the possibility of seeing such fantastic sunrises from the centre of cities such as London. Humming softly to herself, Alex turned another corner. She was now only a few streets away from Luigi's and her flat, and her heart was hammering furiously in her chest as the thought, _Not long now_, filled her head.

Finally, she pulled up outside Luigi's and, even though she'd already predicted it, felt her stomach flip at the sight of the Quattro parked outside. She parked her car, borrowed from CID for the trip to Edinburgh, behind the Quattro as quietly as she could, suddenly conscious that Gene would be sleeping in the flat and not wanting to do anything that might wake him. He was a very light sleeper after all, and Alex didn't want to jeopardise surprising him with her arrival.

She climbed out of the car, grabbing her jacket and purse on the way, then headed swiftly for the stairs. By now, her entire body was tingling with anticipation of Gene's gentle touch. Reaching the door, it took her several tries to fit her key in the lock as her hands were trembling so fiercely. She managed it eventually though, and slipped quietly into the apartment, the violent beating of her heart pounding loudly in her ears as the sound of Gene's snores reached her from the bedroom.

* * *

_I drove all night_

_Crept in your room

* * *

_

Alex closed the door softly behind her. Her eyes briefly roamed the still flat, taking in Gene's great overcoat strewn carelessly over the sofa, the empty whiskey tumblers and discarded food containers in a single glance. Gene had obviously been taking care of himself in her absence. Men. She almost rolled her eyes, but decided she had more urgent matters to deal with. Pausing only to throw her purse onto the striped cushions of the sofa beside Gene's coat, and slip off her sky-high stiletto boots, she half tip-toed, half ran to the door of the bedroom she and Gene had been sharing for the last few months. She eased it open, wincing as the hinges squeaked slightly, then crept inside.

Standing just inside the door, Alex paused once more and felt her breath catch in her throat at the scene before her. She decided then and there that a sleeping Gene had to be one of the most beautiful sights in the world.

He lay across the bed, his body reverberating gently with each snore and his floppy blond hair covering his eyes. The duvet only half covered him, having been forced to one side of the bed, and Alex could see he was wearing only a vest and pyjama bottoms. Pyjama bottoms from a pair she'd bought him, she noted, which he'd vehemently refused to ever wear on account of them being from what he'd termed "a poof's shop", and the Gene Genie was not a poof. She smiled softly, making a mental note to bring up the pyjamas next time he got all homophobic. Her gaze came to rest on his face. He looked so much younger asleep, she thought tenderly. The deep creases in his brow, caused by years of stress, late nights, cigarettes and alcohol seemed reduced, as though wiped away, and Alex could see hints of the young man he used to be, before he was hardened by day to day life.

* * *

_Woke you from your sleep_

_To make love to you_

_Is that alright?_

_I drove all night

* * *

_

Alex stole silently across the floor and knelt down at the side of the bed. She was now mere inches away from Gene's face and the urge to close the gap between them and press her lips to his was almost impossible to resist. She reached out a quivering hand and brushed the lock hair out of his eyes.

"Gene," she murmured softly, leaning in even closer. She was so close now, she could smell the shampoo he'd used, could see each individual eyelash. "Gene." Unable to resist any longer, she pressed a tantalisingly sweet kiss to his lips, revelling in the rush of sensations it brought cascading over her. She made to pull away, not wanting to get carried away, but to her great surprise, Gene mumbled against her lips,

"You even _think _about pulling away Bolly and I'll 'ave your badge on charge of criminal neglect!" And before Alex had a chance to think about how they got there, one of his hands was clamped possessively around her waist, the other entwined in her hair and they were kissing passionately. Their tongues danced together, an elaborate tango they had long ago perfected, yet never failed to leave either of them breathless. Alex couldn't help the moan of desire that escaped her lips and went juddering down both of their bodies. When they finally broke apart for lack of oxygen, neither of them was willing to relinquish their hold on the other. They pressed their foreheads together and for a moment just sat like that, their breathing ragged and heavy. Then Gene broke the contact and looked at her, confusion showing in his piercing blue, sleep-fogged eyes.

"What're yer doin' back here, Bols? You were all the way up in Edinburgh. What yer doin' here?" Alex felt herself melt a little bit inside at his puzzlement, then bit her lip as she tried to decide what to tell him. Gene's eyes dropped down to her lips, distracted, and she watched his eyes darken with undisguisable lust. She made up her mind.

"I missed you. I couldn't get you out of my head," she purred, leaning forward and slipping a hand beneath his vest, trailing her fingers lightly over his skin. She felt him shudder slightly beneath her fingertips and relished the feel of it. How could she ever have thought him a just a construct, a figment of her own over-active imagination, was beyond her. He was so unmistakably alive! She leaned forwards and pressed a fierce kiss to his lips, sweeping her tongue the length of his mouth and barely managing to withhold the groan that was threatening to break free from her chest. She broke the kiss, moving down his jawline, then kissed her way back up his neck to his ear. She nibbled and sucked at it, eliciting more moans from Gene as his hands roamed her body quite freely. All traces of his sleepiness had vanished.

"Want you... Gene..." Alex barely managed to get the words out, too caught up in the rush of sensations his talented fingers brought over her body, as he touched her in ways only he knew how. Gene's response to her mumbled statement was to lift her all the way onto the bed, then proceed to rid her of her clothing, kissing her flesh as he exposed it.

"Don't blame yer for it, Bolly. I've been told on many occasions of my prowess as a lover." he eventually murmured, while gently nuzzling the hollow at the base of her throat.

Somehow, she was now the one lying on the bed and he was above her and their clothes had disappeared to God-knows where. Alex couldn't bring herself to be even mildly disappointed in this turn of events. His head dipped down, his mouth capturing hers in yet another searing kiss and as she wrapped her legs round his middle, he slowly eased himself into her.

They began to move together, slow at first, then faster. Each motion brought them closer to the edge, drawing moans and groans of sheer pleasure from the both of them, but never quite tipping them over. Finally though, neither Alex nor Gene could hold on any longer and they came together.

For a few minutes after, all they could do was lie there as one, breathing heavily, but each feeling a hell of a lot better than they had done over the past few days. Then Alex rolled out from beneath him and without having to think about it, they began all over again.

They kept at it until the sun had risen and the people of London began to wake in preparation of the day ahead, when finally they both fell back on the bed, thoroughly exhausted.

* * *

_What in this world_

_Keeps us from tearing apart?_

_No matter where I go I hear_

_The beating of your heart

* * *

_

They lay together on the bed, hands entwined. Sunshine spilled through the crack in the curtains and bathed them in its warm glow. Alex's head rested lightly on Gene's chest, feeling the reassuring thump-thump, thump-thump of his heart. It was a sound she was so attuned to, she seemed to hear it wherever she went. She sensed Gene's hand wander to her hair and felt him begin to run his fingers through it. Alex sighed happily, closing her eyes and snuggling in closer to Gene.

It still shocked her at times just how much he meant to her, that it was possible to love a man as much as she did him. What surprised her yet more was that, despite the loss of Molly which was a pain she knew would never leave her, Alex could not remember ever feeling so content with life as she did now. She would never forget nor stop loving her beautiful little girl, but Alex had slowly come to terms with the fact that it was highly unlikely she would return to 2008. Molly had said her good-byes and would be moving on with her life, and though it had taken time, Alex had gradually come to accept she must do the same.

She had Gene and for that she was truly grateful. He was, without a doubt, her lifeline in this world and it had gotten to the point she could no longer imagine life without him. Thinking about it, Alex realised that even if she were, somehow, able to return to 2008, she wouldn't last long emotionally at all. It was a shock to realise how dependant she had become on him, especially as she had always been a very independent character, never wanting to have to rely on anyone other than herself for fear of getting hurt.

It was too late for that when it came to Gene.

He was her everything in this world, he stopped her from tearing herself apart when times got bad, comforted her when she was overwhelmed by the loss of her daughter, laughed with her, smiled with her, drank with her... The list went on and on.

* * *

_I think about you when the night is cold and dark

* * *

_

"Yer alrigh' there Bols? Yer very quiet. Not like you at all." Gene's voice rumbled through his body, causing his chest to vibrate slightly. Alex smiled widely at the sensation.

"Mmm. Just fine, thank you very much. Thinking, if you must know."

"Oh dear, God 'elp us. Those words never bode well fer anyone, 'specially me." There was a glint in his eyes that alerted Alex to his teasing and she slapped lightly on the arm.

"Aren't you even mildly curious about what I was thinking, Gene?" She smiled sweetly up at him.

Gene snorted. "S' long as it stays in that pretty head of yours Bolly and doesn' interrupt my fantasies 'bout havin' you over the Quattro before the day's up, then I don' give a monkey's left bollock what's goin' on in there."

Instead of being insulted by Gene's crass response, Alex looked up at him in curiosity. "What else do you fantasise about?" Gene opened his mouth to give some crude retort, but paused at the look in Alex's eyes.

"Seriously?" Alex nodded. Gene exhaled and stared right at her, "Alrigh' then. You. Yer all I ever seem to think about Bols." He shifted in the bed, uncomfortable with having been so honest, even with her. Alex frequently forgot how insecure Gene was when it came to feelings. She snaked an arm around his chest, then reached up and brushed her lips against.

"I love you, you know. And if it makes you feel better, you're pretty much all I think about too. It's becoming quite a problem actually," she teased gently, laughing at the look of shock that briefly flashed across his face before he realised she was joking. "I can't seem concentrate on my work anymore, and it got me into awful trouble in Edinburgh."

A small smile was slowly beginning to spread across Gene's face and Alex realised she was probably causing his ego to expand exponentially. At that point in time however, it didn't bother her. She continued, voice barely above a whisper now.

"I think about you during the night, even though most of the time you're lying right next to me. I think about you when it's cold and dark, when it's bright and sunny, when I'm in the office and in the shower. I never stop thinking about you Gene." Alex wasn't sure when the light-hearted atmosphere had been replaced by one of such utter seriousness. How had they gone from teasing and joking to baring their hearts and souls?

Her gaze never left his face, needing to hear his voice return her sentiments and becoming more anxious each second he didn't. She wasn't exactly the most secure person emotionally either, she thought wryly. Gene seemed to sense her increasing discomfort.

* * *

_No one can move me the way that you do_

_Nothing erases the feeling between me and you

* * *

_

"Bloody hell, Bols," he said, his voice gruff but his his eyes shining with happiness and love at the honesty of her confessions. "Yer know I feel the same way, don' yer?" Alex nodded slightly and gave him a small smile. He beamed back down at her and his entire face seemed to glow, but Alex barely had time to register this before he was kissing her as though his very life depended on it. The kiss seemed to last for hours and when they were finally forced apart by their bodies' need for oxygen, Gene wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

"I may not say it aloud very often Bolly, but I do. Yer as nutty as a fruitcake, can't follow the simplest of instructions and I frequently don' have a clue what yer on about, but I love yer and wouldn' have yer any other way." He dropped another kiss at the base of her neck and squeezed her tightly, pressing her even closer to him.

Alex smiled into his chest and felt her eyes begin to flutter closed. She had been awake for over twenty-four hours now and was absolute exhausted. Slowly, she began to drift off to sleep in his arms, knowing she was safe and he wouldn't let anything happen to her while she slept. The last thing she heard before sleep claimed her for its own was Gene murmur softly in her ear, words rumbling pleasantly against her skin,

"I've never felt this way 'bout anyone else Bols. It scares the shit out of me, but it's true. No one makes me feel the same way you do and nothin's ever gonna change that. Now sleep well, sweetheart."

Yes, Alex thought drowsily, Gene was definitely worth the drive. She'd do it again in an instant.

* * *

_I drove all night to get to you_

_Is that alright?_

_I drove all night_

_Crept in your room_

_Woke you from your sleep_

_To make love to you_

_Is that alright?_

_I drove all night_

_Could taste your sweet kisses_

_Your arms open wide_

_This fever for you is just burning me up inside_

_I drove all night to get to you_

_Is that alright?_

_I drove all night_

_Crept in your room_

_Woke you from your sleep_

_To make love to you_

_I drove all night... to hold you tight.

* * *

_

**A/N:- Any thoughts?**

**Dinny**

**xxxxx**


End file.
